Brett A. Savory
Brett A. Savory was born in 1973. He works as an editor, at Harcourt Canada in Toronto.
He is President/Fiction Editor of The Chiaroscuro and writes a quarterly column for Twilight Showcase
magazine. He has published some 25 stories in a variety of publications since 1998 and has completed
his first novel, In and Down.

What is it with Brett A. Savory and pigs? Come to think of it, even if you do know, I don't
think I want to. Some things are better left unexamined.
Fortunately, that doesn't include Savory's fiction. If you like your horror dark and twisted
and sometimes hilarious, he's your man. And here's an added bonus: The Distance Travelled is
the first one of his stories I haven't felt compelled to give an NC-1 rating to; a PG-13 will
suit this one just dandy.

Here's the picture: you're sitting around one day in Hell, minding your own business, when some
low-life creeps throw a live pig through your kitchen window. (Okay, I suppose, technically, it's
Hell's kitchen...) Now, that kind of thing doesn't go down well up here among the living and
it certainly isn't any more tolerated in Hell. One can't just spend one's time running willy-nilly
about the house, dodging airborne livestock, really.

Well, the victim of this prank decides to track down the perpetrators and that's when all... well,
you know what breaks loose. And let me tell you, the Underworld is not exactly like the
bible-thumpers would have you believe. It can even be barely tolerable as long as your air
conditioning unit doesn't give up the ghost. Or, if you don't have to stop for a fill-up, because
if you're still bemoaning the demise of full-service gas pumps, there's a character in
The Distance Travelled that will shut you up on that score. Permanently.

In order to solve the mystery of the barnyard missiles, our hero must go to the most dangerous spot
in Hell, the flame pit where the nameless beast waits for crunchy treats of any sort. He must also
get within spitting distance of the most feared man in the Underworld (and you'd be surprised to
find out that isn't the Big Red Fella) and find an opening that leads to the Upside.

In anyone else's hands, it could be sheer torture, but all this means Savory is just getting
warmed up. And damned if you won't have a great time before this whole deranged ride is over. And
it will just whet your appetite for Savory's first-ever novel, In And Down, which he has
just finished.

Until that bent offering comes out, Savory has kindly and bravely given us a peek into the past at a
short story he wrote in 1984 at the "tender" age of eleven. Like many first attempts of good writers
it shows the ideas are there -- every idea he'd had up until that point, crammed into one horrendous,
hysterical mess. Go ahead. He laughs at it, so can you. Think of it as a before-and-after ad.

Just remember that the guy in the after picture is going places and he's taking that
little before kid with him. They are on their way.

In between reviews, articles, and interviews, Lisa DuMond writes science
fiction and humour. DARKERS, her latest novel, was published in August 2000
by Hard Shell Word Factory. She has also written for BOOKPAGE and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.
Her articles and short stories are all over the map. You can check
out Lisa and her work at her website hikeeba!.